The next time you have a fire related emergency in the city, don't be surprised if the Fire Department personnel don't show up, or if they take their own sweet time to do so. That's because, after a meeting the Belize City firefighters held today, they've decided on a go-slow.
This decision didn't come lightly, but the tipping point came yesterday when higher up's informed them of an across-the-board slashing of overtime pay. That coupled with inadequate equipment and deplorable working conditions today forced the firefighters to turn to the media.
Courtney Menzies went to their base at Marion Jones today and spoke with them. Here's that story.
Belize City firefighters are planning a go-slow after they were informed that their overtime pay would be cut, effective immediately. It's the final straw for these firefighters after years of issues that have been snowballing.
But what makes the cut more insulting is that they believe the money is being used elsewhere.
Phillip Arthurs, Lead Firefighter
"Right now we just got information from our OC that starting Monday, we will work 5 days a week and overtime is cut immediately all across the whole country for the fire department. And we as firefighters, we believe that the heads are misappropriating their funds or do whatsoever on it and now it has a trickle down effect on firefighters that we are losing and our pay is already small so most firemen right now are very angry with this decision and they didn't come and consult with us, they just said, starting Monday, five days a week."
Arthurs has been at the department for almost 16 years and he says in that time, they have not been compensated properly, and now they will be making even less money.
Phillip Arthurs, Lead Firefighter
"Most of us as firefighters, as employees, workers, we have bills and kids and everything has gone up. people have loans, people have different things to pay, out district. Some of us are traveling to different districts and a lot of allowances that we believe we deserve to get, not even that the department is giving us. So they are taking away from us and they're not providing anything for us."
Courtney Menzies:
"And on average how much overtime would you say you get in maybe a week?"
Phillip Arthurs, Lead Firefighter
"Usually it's like 8 hours a week, but for the month it's 32 minimum, sometimes it's more. Depends on the days in the month, sometimes 31, 30, 28, it fluctuates but minimum is 32 and now all you'll get is 8, even if you work extra, if I work 16 hours extra the information they provided to us is you won't get paid for that, you'll get 16 hours time off."
Courtney Menzies:
"And the 16 is mandatory? You have to come in?"
Phillip Arthurs, Lead Firefighter
"If I work. Because if I'm working and somebody else who is supposed to come a relieve me doesn't come, then who will stay? Or the station will be left abandoned? Or the station will have to shut down because the next fireman will have to go home because they aren't paying us for it."
And money isn't the only problem - the firefighters took us on a tour of the squalid conditions they're forced to work in. There are only three beds for about 5 persons per shift and the mattresses have seen much better days. One bed needs two sponges just to offer a little bit of comfort for firefighters working 16 hour shifts.
Next to the beds, the refrigerator is completely empty, and there is no stove in the tiny kitchen.
But it's not just their living conditions - these firefighters explained that the equipment they have to work with - particularly the firetrucks - are deteriorating. On top of that, they're missing vital pieces of their safety uniforms.
And if that's not bad enough, late at night, the wild animals come out to play.
Phillip Arthurs, Lead Firefighter
"You could take a tour and just see what all we're dealing with, what all we have. The trucks, people out there don't know but we're working with some real… man, and we try to do our best, we try to provide for the people with the equipment they give us but it's not cutting it. So people will say oh the firemen are this and that but we don't go out there and tell them that we're working with tools that aren't ready. And that's the problems we're facing right now, some of it."
"The missing boots, like I said, you see some of us coming in tennis but about 70 boots are missing from the fire department that they don't know about, we don't know about, and we can't get any boots. And this is not this year, it's from years back. So they said we're going to get, but it's waiting again and now this will be a next year and close to March they're probably going to provide for us because end of year budget and thing so they start spending the money wild."
Courtney Menzies:
"Since you guys moved from the base that was by Atlantic Bank and came here, has it just been worse than there?"
Phillip Arthurs, Lead Firefighter
"Worse. Back here, you come here about 8:00, 9:00 at night, we have parties with raccoons. We have parties with raccoons, rats, crabs, snakes, alligators coming from off the track too, they're coming to hail us at night. That's the conditions that we're living in, we would want the minister or someone to come and just give us a bail out. Put the station somewhere nice and we will work with you too because we're here to provide for the people."
But that job is getting tougher and tougher for those firefighters who've given decades of service to the department.
Phillip Arthurs, Lead Firefighter
"It's frustrating, lots of firemen are frustrated but at the end of the day, finance and thing, so some people still come to work but they come feeling frustrated, you don't get 100 from people but we still have to show up because like I said, you have bills to pay, we have loans, we have all kinds of thing so man still have to come to work everyday."
And with the establishment of the Emergency Communication Center in Belmopan, the dispatchers at the fire station are fearing that they will lose their jobs completely since their post will be redundant.
We did reach out to the Fire Chief for comment - but up to news time had gotten no response.
